China Unicom Research Institute Joins ZigBee Alliance

The ZigBee Alliance has announced that the China Unicom Research Institute, one of China's three major mobile service carriers, has joined its organization. In 2015, the institute initiated the Smart Home Standardization United Group (SSUG), which drew in a number of enterprises in the industry, including FiberHome, ZTE and Wulian, and developed implementation standards from devices to gateways and to the cloud.

ZigBee is adopted by SSUG as the major wireless communication standard for connecting end devices to the gateway. Based on the understanding of market demand and through laboratory test results, SSUG has proposed parameter recommendations and additional mandatory features to improve user experiences. After joining the ZigBee Alliance, SSUG will participate in standards development working groups and seek to integrate its work into international standards, while proposing that ZigBee technology be accepted into China's industry standards, including in the smart-home market.

"2017 was a year that witnessed rapid development of the IoT, and China Unicom has also made remarkable achievements in this field," said Zhang Yunyong, the China Unicom Research Institute's president, in a prepared statement. "We are pleased to join the ZigBee Alliance and look forward to working closely with other Alliance members to share our experience in the Chinese consumer market and actively participate in the development of open IoT standards to meet the rapid changes of market demand and drive innovation in IoT."

"The ZigBee Alliance works with key leaders and standards groups around the globe to promote cross-ecosystem collaboration to unleash IoT innovations," said Tobin Richardson, the ZigBee Alliance's president and CEO, in the prepared statement. "We are pleased to have this prominent influencer in the Chinese market join us, and look forward to the China Unicom Research Institute sharing their expertise and insight alongside other members as we work together to achieve the promise and potential of the Internet of Things."

The ZigBee Alliance, which launched in 2002 as 25 tech-savvy companies, has grown into an international group comprising more than 400 organizations from 37 countries. The Alliance has introduced numerous certification programs, as well as industry specifications and standards, and ZigBee applications have gained traction in the smart home, commercial buildings, manufacturing and smart cities markets.